Still.



R. H. MGMILLEN.

STILL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1910.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANoGRAPl-l c0..wA5M|NG10N. u. c.

RUSSELL I-I. MGMILLEN, OIF Wil-IEELINGr, WEST VIRGINIA.

STILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

Application filed July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,643.

To' all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUSSELL H. McMin- LEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wheeling, in the county of Ohio and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stills,

of which the following is a specification,

vvariations in the pressure of the water-supply.

Another obj ect of this invention is yto provide means for controllingthe overflow from the water-jacket which surrounds a part of the vapor-pipe.

Other features of this invention will be pointed out in the description which follows.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of this invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle, Figure 1 is an elevation of my new still, partly in section; Fig. 2 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow A, Fig. l, and partly in section; and Fig. 3 is a plan.

The boiler a is formed with the usual head or dome b with which communicates the lower end of the shorter leg c of the U-shaped condenser-tube d. `The longer leg e of the latter is connected to the shorter leg c thereof by the pipe or conduit f which slopes from the upper end of the shorter leg u downwardly to the upper end of the longer leg e. This downward inclination of the pipe f tends to produce a` flow from the upper end of the shorter leg c to the longer leg e of any condensate fo-rmed and thereby prevents the latter from falling back int-o the boiler a. The length of the shorter leg c is made suiiciently great to prevent priming from the boiler a, whereby the purity of the distillate is maintained or preserved.

The lower part of the longer leg e of the condenser-tube d is incased in a water-jacket g, which is structurally connected with the boiler a by means of carrier-plates or braceplates u and to which the impure cold water is supplied through the pipe L connected to the lower end of the water-jacket. The upper end of the latter is connected with the interior of the boiler a near the bottom thereof by the pipe i (Fig. 1). Communicating with the water-jacket g below the middle thereof through a hole s in the wall of the same is the lower end of the shorter leg j of a siphon lc, the upper end of which leg j is formed with a nipple m and Ais provided ]'ust above the latter with an air-admission valve n. To the nipple fm, is attached a hose-pipe 0 which forms the longer leg of the siphon 7c. With the air-admission valve n open, the hose-pipe 0 serves as an overflow pipe by which any 'overiiow from the leg may be led away without splashing. With the air-admission valve n closed, the supply of water may by opening still further the cock 1 be momentarily increased through the pipe h unt-il the hosepipe 0 is filled, whereupon the latter will act as the longer leg o-f a siphon of which the part y' is the shorter leg and siphoning will commence. The boiler a may be thus emptied of foiil water and sediment. By opening the air-admission valve n, the action of the siphon will be stopped. The boiler a is provided with a spigot 79 by which the boiler may be emptied at will, and the presence of water in the boiler may be readily determined. The lower end of the jacket g may be similarly provided with an ordinary drain-cock or spigot t; but this is a mere mechanical expedient and has nothing whatever to do with this invent-ion. By means of curved bands or straps c the still may be fastened to the wall or other vertical support. v

The operation of the still will now be readily understood and may be briefly described as follows: The feed-Water pipe 71, is connected at one end with any suitable source of water-supply (not shown herein but it may be, for example, a common watertap) and leads the feed-water to the still.

The air-valve n being open, the feed-water is, at the beginning of the operation, by opening the cock r, allowed to flow slowly through the pipe 71. into the water-jacket g, in which it gradually rises and from the upper part of which it flows into the boiler a through the pipe i. The feed-water also rises in the shorter leg j of the siphon 7c, until its level reaches the opening in the nipple m, when an overflow through the hose-pipe o will take place. Of course, the level of the water in the boiler a, the waterjacket g and the shorter leg 7' will finally be the same and will be at the height of the opening in the nipple m, as is indicated clearly in Fig. 2. The vvater in the boiler a is heated to the boiling'point by the heat from the gas-burner g (but any other suitable source of heat may, of course, be used) and the vapor evolved rises in the pipe c and iioivs through the inclined pipe f into the longer leg e of the U-shaped condenser-tube el, Where it is condensed, the cold Water in the Water-jacket g serving to absorb heat from the vapor and to keep down the temperature of the lower portion of the leg e. The condensate flows or drips from the lower endv of the latter, Which is open, of course. The supply of the feed-Water Will be regulated so as to avoid vvaste through the overflow-pipe o as far as possible and so that, therefore, the supply of feed-Water Will be just enough to compensate for the Water which passes off from the boiler in the form of vapor. Since, however, the pressure will in practice be found to vary, some Water Will be lost by overflow through the pipe 0,' but the arrangement vvill prevent splashing and the Water-level in the boiler Wi ll be kept constant automatically. hen it is desired to rid the boiler a of foul Water and sediment, the air-valve a is'closed and the flow of Water is by still further opening the cock r momentarily increased through the feed-Water pipe h; and, since 'the horizontal section of the boiler is much greater than that of the jacket g, the overflow-pipe o and the Water-jacket g Will be filled rapidly With Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Water. As hereinbefore explained, the boiler a may then be emptied by siphon action, the Water iiovving now from the boiler a and the upper part of the Water-'j acket g through vthe hole s in the Wall thereof into the shorter the bottom thereof and through Which passes said condenser-tube; and a siphon Which is connected with said Water-jacket and provided ivith an air-valve and vvhich constitutes a means for maintaining the desired level of Water in the still, When the airvalve is open, and a means for draining the still, vvh-en the air-valve is closed.

Signed at Y Masontovvn, Preston county, West Virginia, this 16th day of July, 1910, in the presence of the tivo undersigned vvitnesses.

RUSSELL H. MCMILLEN. Witnesses:

C. E. MCMILLEN, J. R. MCMILLEN.

Washington,v D. C." 

